But Fusco's true forensic artistry is shaping a victim's account of a crime into a composite sketch of a suspect that comes close to resembling the actual suspect.

He credits much of his talent to being a good listener.

"You really have to pay attention to what a witness or victim is telling you about a crime that happened in a few seconds or in the dark," Fusco said. "It's relating pieces to parts . . . like a Mr. Potato Head."

Fusco's career has gone from sketching designs for Winter Garden Police Department patrol cars to developing a unique art form used by law-enforcement agencies across Florida, as well as by forensic investigators in Hawaii and Chicago.

"I just love drawing faces," the 50-year-old detective said.

At the Orange County Sheriff's Office, Fusco surrounds himself with an eclectic mix of his art, including a drawing of Pope John Paul II on one wall and supercop Dirty Harry on another.

The Sheriff's Office building on West Colonial Drive features many of his paintings. A large scene in one hall depicts a deputy sheriff mourning the loss of an Orlando officer. A faint image of the fallen officer stands to his side, comforting him.

Fusco's first steps into forensic art began during a weeklong art course near Tallahassee when he was an officer in the late '80s.

His first tools were a pencil, a pad and Identi-Kits -- books showing hundreds of hairstyles, eyes, brows, noses, chins, ears and other features used to piece together a composite.

Now he has developed his own book of faces, which includes various ethnicities to better identify suspects.

The best witnesses

"The key to making a good sketch is not just practice and experience, but interpreting what the victim is saying," Fusco said. "Children and hairdressers make the best witnesses. They don't miss a thing."

Fusco starts his sketch as a pencil drawing based on a witness description of the suspect. Next he searches Orange County Jail's inmate database to find an inmate who resembles the drawing.

"It really helps me to have an actual face in front of me," he said.

He blends those features into the drawing and begins to add shading and texture using a computer airbrush tool. Fusco shows the composite to the witness and tweaks it until the witness gives it the green light.

His composites keep investigators busy. So busy that they never show him the fruits of his labors: the arrest of the suspect.

"I rarely get to see if they arrest anyone based on my work," he said. "I hear they do."

'100 percent match'

Orlando police Detective Filipp Ucci said one of Fusco's recent composite sketches was a "100 percent match" to a suspect accused of raping a woman.

"Our officers working the North OBT area had copies of his composite . . . and one officer was able to get the victim to positively identify the suspect because of the composite," Ucci said. "I mean it was like seeing the same man. He had it right down to the eyebrows, mouth, nose . . . everything."

Fusco also does facial reconstructions when all he has to work with is a skull. A notebook on his desk includes several composites based on skulls found by investigators. They make for good stories.

"One time we found a skull of a murder victim that had a plant coming out of it," he recalled. "I was able to reconstruct the face, but we were never able to identify the victim."

It's sometimes hard for the artist to separate work from personal life. "I remember telling my wife one day, 'I bet you have a really pretty skull,' " he said. "She didn't find it funny."

A fan of Monroe

Aside from criminals and skeletal remains, Fusco has a taste for Marilyn Monroe.

"I did a beautiful drawing of Marilyn Monroe and gave it to my mother. She was proud and put it over the couch," Fusco said. "But my aunt complained and she put it away after I spent over $150 to frame it."

Joking aside, Fusco said he values his work and hopes it speaks for him and his talent.

"Forensic artists are not common. They are maybe just a few of us around the nation," he said. "I want to leave a legacy of paintings."